[Internet Relay Chat] A worldwide “party line” network
that allows one to converse with others in real time. IRC is structured as
a network of Internet servers, each of which accepts connections from
client programs, one per user. The IRC community and the
Usenet and MUD communities
overlap to some extent, including both hackers and regular folks who have
discovered the wonders of computer networks. Some Usenet jargon has been
adopted on IRC, as have some conventions such as
emoticons. There is also a vigorous native jargon,
represented in this lexicon by entries marked ‘[IRC]’. See
also talk mode.